


The Crownless

by flyingonthefriendshipship



Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Comedy, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, king!minho, tailor!key, top!key
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-02
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-24 10:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4915774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingonthefriendshipship/pseuds/flyingonthefriendshipship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kibum is a commoner. He'd rather be a king.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Crownless

**Author's Note:**

> eyyyy so i haven't posted anything for a really long time and when i come back of course it's for kpop, right? (i'm so sorry omg)
> 
> originally posted anonymously for fytop!key's birthday challenge, with the prompt king!key. i had so much fun writing this, but it's a lot shorter than i wanted it to be! the challenge came right in the middle of my RA training (even though i already have a year under my belt...) and it was pretty rough lol. i might expand it later if i feel like it!

Kibum is a commoner. He’d rather be a king.

\---

He knows his place. He knows, he’s always known, but he’s always wanted more.

Maybe if he hadn’t been the son of a tailor then it would be different. Maybe if it weren’t his job to deliver clothes to the castle, then it’d be different. But he is the son of a tailor, and it is his job to deliver clothes to the castle, and because of that, Kibum has been able to get a glimpse of extravagance.

And god does he want it.

He’s seen the inside of those impenetrable walls, the lush gardens and paved paths leading up to the castle, even while entering from the servants’ side in order to get his family’s wares to the king’s personal aide. He’s even seen the king himself, the ever-popular king, whose handsomeness is rumored in the kingdom to be greater than that of anyone else in the entire realm.

Kibum knows, of course, that this is not true. His best friend, Woohyun, had once dated a stable hand named Myungsoo, and Myungsoo was the most beautiful boy Kibum had ever seen. But King Minho, Kibum is loath to say, is pretty damn close.

He’s always been kind of bitter about it. If only he had been born into an upper-class family - it’s a thought he has perhaps too frequently. Not that he doesn’t love his own working-class household, with his hardworking parents and his doting grandmother, but they aren’t royalty. They aren’t even close.

“It’s just not fair,” he complains to the castle’s stable boy, Jonghyun, after he’s finished with his delivery one day. He’s sitting on a low fence post, watching Jonghyun bale hay disinterestedly. “I’m a good person. Why did this have to happen to me?”

Jonghyun sighs heavily, like he’s heard these exact words come out of Kibum’s mouth at least a million times (which he has). “We’re all good people, Kibum. Some are just luckier than others.”

“That’s bullshit,” Kibum says. “There’s gotta be a way for us to get up there, too.”

Jonghyun shakes his head, wiping some of the sweat from his brow and smearing dirt across his forehead in the process. “There’s no way. Look at us. We’re filthy and poor. The class system here is shit and we all know it, but what are we supposed to do about it? Where we’re born is where we stay.” He puts down his pitchfork, rubbing at his eyes. “I’ve tried, you know I’ve tried, and look where I ended up. It’s not worth it, Kibum. It’s so deeply ingrained into our society that it’s nearly impossible to overcome.”

Kibum has heard Jonghyun spout these fake deep musings for years now, but never before has he been so frustrated by them. “There has to be a way. I’m serious this time.”

“You’ve been serious the last hundred times.” Jonghyun has started up the baling again. “What makes this time so different?”

“I have an idea,” Kibum says. It’s been building and gaining ground ever since he’d thought about Woohyun and Myungsoo.

“God help us. Why now?”

“Well, I’m not getting any younger,” Kibum starts, and Jonghyun stops baling completely, turning to look at Kibum.

Jonghyun has known Kibum for long enough that he always knows exactly what’s going through Kibum’s head. Therefore, Kibum is not surprised in the slightest when Jonghyun says, “Please don’t tell me you’re going to do what I think you’re going to do.”

Kibum sets his jaw determinedly. “I’m gonna do it.”

“Don’t do it, Kibum. Don’t fucking do this.”

“It’s worth it. And it’s the right time.”

“You’re not going to do it. This is never going to work. You’re fucking insane.” Jonghyun practically throws his pitchfork to the ground in his race to get his hands on Kibum’s shoulders, so he can hopefully shake the bad ideas right out of him. “You’re not going to seduce the king.”

Kibum looks away stubbornly and tries not to lose the determined look on his face, but he knows he’s failed when he hears Jonghyun groan and say, “God, Kibum, they’re going to kill you for this. No one gets within ten feet of the king except for his personal aide and makes it out alive. You know this as well as I do.”

Of course Kibum knows. The whole kingdom knows about King Minho’s -- rightful -- paranoia. “Not if I know a guy on the inside,” Kibum says.

Jonghyun immediately removes his hands from Kibum’s shoulders, halting them both. “You’re not using Taemin.”

“I’m gonna use Taemin--”

“You’re not. Goddamn it Kibum, I will not let you use Taemin for this godawful plan of yours just because you’re tired of commoner life like a fucking spoiled brat--”

Kibum rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you’ve been fucking the king’s personal aide for all this time and you’ve never once tried to use it to get a better position.”

“It’s because I’m not a self-centered asshole like you,” Jonghyun points out, lips a thin, upset line.

“You guys could have that vacation you’ve always wanted,” Kibum points out. “And I could take his place and then the king will fall in love with me or whatever. I’m irresistable. It’s foolproof.”

“I can’t go on vacation. I’m the only stable boy who knows how to do this shit.” But Kibum can see that Jonghyun is seriously thinking it over.

“Jinki can handle the stables for a couple of days, can’t he?” Kibum says, not really meaning it but desperate to get Jonghyun to agree with him. Jinki is the castle goatherd, and he’s friendly but very clumsy.

“He’d kill himself trying to bale the hay,” Jonghyun says, but Kibum knows he’s just going through the motions now -- Jonghyun wants this vacation badly.

“Then just bale a lot of it now,” Kibum says.

“He doesn’t know the cows as well as I do.”

“Now you’re just reaching.”

There’s a long pause where Jonghyun is pretending to think, even though Kibum is absolutely sure he’s already won Jonghyun over. “All right,” Jonghyun finally says. “I’ll tell Taemin to ask for time off.”

Kibum leaps up and whoops excitedly. “Thanks for this, Jjong. I really owe you one.”

Jonghyun makes a disgruntled noise but doesn’t disagree. “Just make sure that when you’re king or whatever you make it up to me.”

Kibum waves a dismissive hand. “Of course, of course.”

“And don’t treat King Minho too poorly. Taemin says he’s actually a pretty nice guy.”

Jonghyun seems pretty insistent about this, but Kibum rolls his eyes. “I want to be king, not have a perfect Cinderella ending or whatever.”

“If you break his heart I’m pretty sure Taemin will break your neck,” Jonghyun says, matter-of-factly, and Kibum can’t help but shudder.

“Fine, fine. Are we done here? Go tell your boyfriend that you two can have that honeymoon or whatever.”

“Does it have to be now?” Jonghyun asks. “I’m still working.”

“Of course it has to be now,” Kibum says, ignoring Jonghyun’s ‘stop rushing me, asshole’ and turning to leave the castle grounds and go back to his home.

After all, he has a king to woo.

\---

Kibum has been preparing for this moment for what seems like ages. After Taemin had requested five days’ worth of leave, he’d had a whole three weeks to get a plan together -- what he likes to call “Operation: Fuck the King and Marry His Rich and Royal Ass.”

All right, so it’s not a super well-developed plan or anything, but Kibum knows he’s hot, because once he’d gone drinking with Jinki and Jinki had drunkenly told him so. So he’s not too nervous about the whole seducing thing. What he is nervous about, though, is getting King Minho to think that Kibum is in love with him. So Kibum figures that all he has to do is push King Minho down onto his bed or something and that’ll be that. The king is a virile young man. Kibum knows how they all work. He’s one himself.

So when the day comes that Taemin is to take his leave, Kibum dresses in his best clothes (tailored by the only person he trusts with his clothes: himself), and goes to the castle, heading towards the servant’s entrance.

Taemin is standing at the entrance when Kibum gets there, bags in hand and an impatient look on his face. “You were supposed to be here when the sun came up.”

Kibum rolls his eyes. “It hasn’t been that long.” The sun is barely past the horizon.

“Whatever. Just -- here.” Taemin puts his bags down to hand Kibum a ring of keys, pointing out one specifically. “This is for Minho’s room -- the only person allowed inside the room is me, his personal aide, which, for these five days, is going to be you. Use this key only. Don’t fucking touch any of the other ones or the castle staff will literally kill you.”

Kibum takes the keys impatiently. “Yes, yes. God, you’re such a brat. I’m older than you!”

Ignoring everything that Kibum has said, Taemin picks up his bags and says, turning around to leave, “Jonghyun should have told you everything I do. And you’ll figure it out as you go along. Minho actually doesn’t need that much care or whatever, I think he just likes having me around.” At this, he pauses, actually turning his head to face Kibum. “Break his heart and I’ll break your neck.”

Kibum doesn’t know whether to laugh at Taemin’s word-perfect echo of Jonghyun’s earlier warning or cry out of fear, so instead, he just heads for the door to the servants’ entrance and opens it.

“Oh, and Kibum?”

Kibum turns around. Taemin is smirking at him.

“You look hot as fuck. Good luck.”

\---

As soon as Kibum gets inside the castle, he heads straight to King Minho’s door, following the instructions that Taemin had relayed to him through Jonghyun to the letter, and unlocks it.

The room is a mess. Clothes are strewn everywhere, books are all over the floor, and there’s a sword just lying on the ground. Kibum hates everything about it.

“Doesn’t Taemin do any goddamn work?” Kibum says aloud, moving into the room and closing the door behind him.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Kibum gets to work, picking up the clothes (he recognizes a few things his family tailored, which is actually fairly comforting) and folding them neatly, and putting things away where he thinks they should go.

Once he’s almost done with his cleaning, Kibum hears a low “Are you Kibum?” from behind him, and he screeches. Whoever had entered the room had entered silently. Kibum hadn’t even heard the knob turn to alert him.

Startled, he turns around -- only to come face-to-face with King Minho himself.

He’s even better-looking up close, maybe even better-looking than Myungsoo (no, he’s not, come on Kibum, get your head in the game) and much taller in person.

But the most striking thing -- the most surprising thing -- is that he’s standing so close.

“Don’t you usually -- the ten feet thing --”

Minho waves a hand, unworried. “Taemin told me that you’re friends, and that you’d be coming, so I know you’re okay,” he says. “Assuming you are, actually, Kibum?”

Kibum nods. Now that he’s here, he’s nervous, but he pulls all of the confidence that he can from his very core to say, “Yes, your majesty. I will be your personal aide for the amount of time that Taemin has requested leave.”

Kibum is surprised by just how unsuspecting King Minho is. He hasn’t done a background check, hasn’t asked him for proof or credentials, has just taken one look at him and decided that he’s trustworthy.

And all this time, King Minho hasn’t stopped smiling at him, looking absolutely delighted, his big eyes as wide as a puppy’s. Unfamiliar with this coming from the king (Kibum having usually seen him at public showings, with stare unwavering and a serious look plastered on his face, surrounded by guards) he can’t help but say, regretting the words as soon as they leave his mouth, “What the fuck are you so happy about?”

King Minho looks even more delighted at this. “I love meeting new people,” he says. “But ever since the assassination attempt, I haven’t been able to meet with anyone. It’s really nice to be meeting one of Taemin’s friends.”

Kibum wouldn’t really say that Taemin is one of his friends, not really, but he’s not about to tell that to the king. “Speaking of Taemin,” Kibum says, “Doesn’t he do any cleaning around here? This place is a mess.”

The king actually looks surprised by what Kibum has just said. “It’s messy?”

Kibum groans out an “Oh my god,” and King Minho tries to backtrack, saying, “I mean, it could use some dusting--” and Kibum says, horrified, “Oh _no_.”

King Minho has the sense to look embarrassed as he says, “I don’t really -- I only ever have Taemin in here, and he doesn’t really clean or anything like that, so…”

Kibum sighs again. “Okay. I’ll take care of the cleaning for you this time, but from now on I am teaching you how to clean. This is impossible. How do you live like this?”

King Minho just shrugs sheepishly, and it is at this exact point that Kibum realizes he’s been speaking this way to a king. One that he’s trying to woo.

He can’t bring himself to apologize, though. And King Minho doesn’t bring it up either, so. He’s just not going to say anything.

He’s got five days to make the king fall in love with him. He can’t mess up so soon.

\---

Kibum gets along surprisingly well with King Minho, except for when he doesn’t.

They’re both very different, which Kibum is not surprised by, though he is frustrated. Kibum couldn’t care less about horseback riding or fencing or archery, which is all that King Minho seems to love in the world, and he can’t even pretend that he likes them. He just accompanies the king to his activities and complains all throughout them to said king, who just listens to him, amused, making agreeable noises at all the right times, except for when Kibum makes a jab at the integrity of fencing or whatever, and they argue for the rest of the day.

That argument lasts for half of day two and the entirety of day three, until night three when Kibum just says _fuck it_ and -- both he and King Minho angry as they’re ever going to be at each other -- pushes the king into his bed mid-shouting match and declares that he’s going to fuck him into the mattress.

Kibum has never been subtle or patient.

King Minho is surprisingly receptive, making noises like he’s been deprived of human companionship for years or something (was he?) and later, when Kibum is moaning his name while thrusting into him desperately, _your majesty, King Minho, King Minho,_ the last thing Kibum hears before he tips over the edge is the king’s low voice in his ear.

_“Call me Minho.”_

\---

Afterwards, Kibum looks over at the king’s sleeping face and feels his heart leap and oh _god_ , oh _no_ , this _cannot_ be happening.

He _cannot_ be falling in love with the king.

Kibum can’t help but feel guilty about the situation. Should he tell King Minho -- no, Minho, it’s just Minho now -- that up until now he’d only been using him to get to the crown? Or should he just let things happen as they may, with Minho never knowing the wiser, thinking that Kibum was into him from the very beginning, with no ulterior motives?

He knows the answer before Minho even takes his next breath.

“I’m not _that_ good a person,” he whispers to himself, and scoots closer to Minho, burying his face in the crook of Minho’s neck, and goes right to sleep.

\---

On the wedding day, Kibum doesn't feel as manipulative as he thought he would. Falling in love with Minho was a pleasant surprise, one that makes everything just that much better. He doesn’t know what he was so afraid of in the first place. This is bliss.

And the coronation, immediately after the wedding, is, Kibum is surprised to say, only the second-most satisfying event he’s ever gone through.

The first is the wedding right before it.

\---

In the end, even though he gets what he's always wanted, it's not even the thing that he's the most happy about.

No, the greatest outcome in all of this, far better even than the material wealth he’d always dreamed of, is that Kibum gets to be with Minho for the rest of his life.

.  
.  
.

(but the fact that he's _King Kibum_ now -- well, that doesn't hurt, either.)

_END_


End file.
